Christ Wants the Church to be a Nudist Colony
I was thinking about nakedness the other day... (I can do this within the right context because I am married :)). And I thought about all of the things that are connected to it. Nakedness tends to inspire debates and rules. Dress codes, terms such as "common decency," it often decides the rating of a movie, can make conservatives mad, etc. but it often is connected to shame--whether that shame is the shame of the naked person or the shame of those who see them naked.
Nakedness, however, is a thing that I think is inextricably connected to the Church and is an important topic to be discussed by a "House Church Theologian."
When I think about nakedness, I immediately think about Adam and Eve and the Fall (Genesis 3). It seems that the consumption of the Fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil had a direct affect on Adam's and Eve's vestiments. In Chapter 3 verses 6 and 7 that Bible fires of the following events in quick succession: 1. they ate the fruit 2. their eyes were opened 3. they realized that they were naked 4. they made clothes for themselves. Not long after that, we see several additional events: in verse 8, they hid from the Lord and in verse 12 and 13 Adam and Eve start passing the blame. It is easy to believe that we are all living in a fallen world because, after consuming the "forbidden fruit" Adam and Eve started acting so much like the rest of us. They saw something that they wanted even though that knew that God did not want it for them, they took it, felt guilty, and then tried to hide from God (and each other for that matter) and when it all came down, they passed the blame down the line.
What is bigger, though, is the fact that at the very point our knowledge of not only evil, but also good, came into existence, we felt naked and ashamed and hid ourselves from each other by putting on clothes and God by literally hiding when he came around.
If we actually discuss what comes to mind when we think about the word naked, we quickly see what the problem is. Exposed, layed bare, uncovered, all of these words assure us that something we could not see we now can see and it is scandalous. Since, for the life of me, I cannot find anything that is inheritly wrong with nakedness, I have to believe that it is sin that makes nakedness wrong. And it is not wrong because nakedness itself is wrong but because when our sinfulness is seen by others we are ashamed of it. So we put up a facade, pull on a mask, act a certain way (especially around certain people). Yet we know from personally experience that many good things are associated with nakedness: sex the way God intended it, staying cool in the summer :), and most importantly a good shower. It is impossible to become good and clean without taking off your clothes.
Jesus often referred to things in terms of light and darkness--getting out of the darkness and coming into the light, yet what does light do but expose, reveal, uncover things? Paul often used the analogy of clothing like in Colossians when his likens our old ways and our new ways to garments. In John chapter 3, Jesus talks to Nicodemus (at night, none the less, because Nicodemus doesn't want to be spotted meeting with Jesus) about rebirth from God. Of course, you can take it from Job or just ask your mother, but I am pretty sure that we were all born naked. Jesus tells Nicodemus of the return to nakedness, the return to purity and the freedom from the curse of the fall because we were reborn anew only from God's womb.
Nakedness is imperitive to the church movement because it lays us bare before God and each other and allows us to be who God wants us to be free of shame and guily and the burden that sin placed on us on that fateful day in the garden. If we are not naked before each other (and you all know that I do not mean this the sense of our clothing) then our church will not succeed. Nakedness is the path of Jesus. Nakedness is how the church can be a place where believers and non-believers alike can find that true way of Jesus and delight in it.
I think that our "clothing" that we put on to hide ourselves from God and each other is held to get by threads of pride. Pride keeps us hidden and is often what makes us unappealing to others as well. Pride perhaps does come before the fall, but in the case of Genesis, it came with the fall. Pride is Satans greatest snare and it traps up and separates us from God and each other.
Pride stems from the nature of the world: a place full of imperfect people that expect perfection from everyone. The world is full of people who are afraid to be wrong, people who hate themselves in side because of what they lack, but refuse to let that show. Pride leads to fights, pain, and hurt. Pride draws us apart, pride is not the nature of our humble savior. Pride in a nutshell us the tendency of humans to always want to be in control. I was meditating on humility the other day and realized that a humble person in the only person who is always in control. Pride often leaves us no way out of situations that we find ourselves in because pride dictates that we ourselves...our selfish selves...#1 should always come out on top. If we cannot come out ontop, then pride traps us. Humility, which is essentially trusting God that he is right and looking outside ourselves to rely on the nature of Christ allows us a way out of every situations. Case in point: I was driving down the highway in my exterminiation truck the other day and there was woman behind me in a red Honda Civic and she was tailgating me. My prideful impulse was to slam on the brakes, give her a scare, afterall, if she hit me, it would be her fault. Yet, humility told me that I could take my foot off the gas and slow down to a speed where she would decide to pass me without scaring her or pull over to the shoulder so that she would go around. My pride told me that there was no reason I should have to slow down or pull over and perhaps lose time on my journey, she was the one who should pay for her inconsiderate uncourteous behavior. But my pride would have caused a schism between myself and the Civic driver, my humility would have atleast left us in the indifference with which we started. Humility left me a suitable and effective and even unifying way out of the situation, a sincere smile and a wave as the tailgater passed bay you will leave you satisfied and sitting naked before your maker knowing that you served his interest and the interest of another over your own and that will make all three of you smile.
Nakedness, however, is a thing that I think is inextricably connected to the Church and is an important topic to be discussed by a "House Church Theologian."
When I think about nakedness, I immediately think about Adam and Eve and the Fall (Genesis 3). It seems that the consumption of the Fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil had a direct affect on Adam's and Eve's vestiments. In Chapter 3 verses 6 and 7 that Bible fires of the following events in quick succession: 1. they ate the fruit 2. their eyes were opened 3. they realized that they were naked 4. they made clothes for themselves. Not long after that, we see several additional events: in verse 8, they hid from the Lord and in verse 12 and 13 Adam and Eve start passing the blame. It is easy to believe that we are all living in a fallen world because, after consuming the "forbidden fruit" Adam and Eve started acting so much like the rest of us. They saw something that they wanted even though that knew that God did not want it for them, they took it, felt guilty, and then tried to hide from God (and each other for that matter) and when it all came down, they passed the blame down the line.
What is bigger, though, is the fact that at the very point our knowledge of not only evil, but also good, came into existence, we felt naked and ashamed and hid ourselves from each other by putting on clothes and God by literally hiding when he came around.
If we actually discuss what comes to mind when we think about the word naked, we quickly see what the problem is. Exposed, layed bare, uncovered, all of these words assure us that something we could not see we now can see and it is scandalous. Since, for the life of me, I cannot find anything that is inheritly wrong with nakedness, I have to believe that it is sin that makes nakedness wrong. And it is not wrong because nakedness itself is wrong but because when our sinfulness is seen by others we are ashamed of it. So we put up a facade, pull on a mask, act a certain way (especially around certain people). Yet we know from personally experience that many good things are associated with nakedness: sex the way God intended it, staying cool in the summer :), and most importantly a good shower. It is impossible to become good and clean without taking off your clothes.
Jesus often referred to things in terms of light and darkness--getting out of the darkness and coming into the light, yet what does light do but expose, reveal, uncover things? Paul often used the analogy of clothing like in Colossians when his likens our old ways and our new ways to garments. In John chapter 3, Jesus talks to Nicodemus (at night, none the less, because Nicodemus doesn't want to be spotted meeting with Jesus) about rebirth from God. Of course, you can take it from Job or just ask your mother, but I am pretty sure that we were all born naked. Jesus tells Nicodemus of the return to nakedness, the return to purity and the freedom from the curse of the fall because we were reborn anew only from God's womb.
Nakedness is imperitive to the church movement because it lays us bare before God and each other and allows us to be who God wants us to be free of shame and guily and the burden that sin placed on us on that fateful day in the garden. If we are not naked before each other (and you all know that I do not mean this the sense of our clothing) then our church will not succeed. Nakedness is the path of Jesus. Nakedness is how the church can be a place where believers and non-believers alike can find that true way of Jesus and delight in it.
I think that our "clothing" that we put on to hide ourselves from God and each other is held to get by threads of pride. Pride keeps us hidden and is often what makes us unappealing to others as well. Pride perhaps does come before the fall, but in the case of Genesis, it came with the fall. Pride is Satans greatest snare and it traps up and separates us from God and each other.
Pride stems from the nature of the world: a place full of imperfect people that expect perfection from everyone. The world is full of people who are afraid to be wrong, people who hate themselves in side because of what they lack, but refuse to let that show. Pride leads to fights, pain, and hurt. Pride draws us apart, pride is not the nature of our humble savior. Pride in a nutshell us the tendency of humans to always want to be in control. I was meditating on humility the other day and realized that a humble person in the only person who is always in control. Pride often leaves us no way out of situations that we find ourselves in because pride dictates that we ourselves...our selfish selves...#1 should always come out on top. If we cannot come out ontop, then pride traps us. Humility, which is essentially trusting God that he is right and looking outside ourselves to rely on the nature of Christ allows us a way out of every situations. Case in point: I was driving down the highway in my exterminiation truck the other day and there was woman behind me in a red Honda Civic and she was tailgating me. My prideful impulse was to slam on the brakes, give her a scare, afterall, if she hit me, it would be her fault. Yet, humility told me that I could take my foot off the gas and slow down to a speed where she would decide to pass me without scaring her or pull over to the shoulder so that she would go around. My pride told me that there was no reason I should have to slow down or pull over and perhaps lose time on my journey, she was the one who should pay for her inconsiderate uncourteous behavior. But my pride would have caused a schism between myself and the Civic driver, my humility would have atleast left us in the indifference with which we started. Humility left me a suitable and effective and even unifying way out of the situation, a sincere smile and a wave as the tailgater passed bay you will leave you satisfied and sitting naked before your maker knowing that you served his interest and the interest of another over your own and that will make all three of you smile.
posted by Ross at 2:59 PM
15 Comments:
While I understand your title was for effect, we all know that strip clubs are about more than just nakedness. May I make a suggestion for an alternate title? I shall... "Christ Wants the Church to be (like) a nudist colony" Nudist Colonies are more about the nakedess; removing shame, disguises, and pride to some extent. Just a suggestion...
P.S. If you want people who stumble upon your site to be able to comment, you should allow anonymous comments, which currently you don't allow. You can always delete any inappropriate comments that are bound to ocurr.
Hey Bree, did you get on and write last night? (I don't think that the time is right) Jeana and I were talking after church last night and I must have gotten on while you were on because I changed it to nudist colony. I thought that the strip club analogy stopped at nakedness, and couldn't be extrapolated any further because strip clubs are still all about exploitation. Nudist colonies on the other hand are about freedom which is exactly what I am trying to get at. I agree with you whole heartedly.
I think I can post anonymously...
Yup, this is Alexandra and I'm posting anonymously...what was the problem when you tried?
I did indeed post after house church last night at 12:19 AM... We independently came to the same conculsion about the title... must run in the family.
Also, last night at 12:19 AM it said that you could not post anonymously. Must have been a system glitch, or Ross changed it.
An interesting article on the nudist colony topic.
http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3835/is_200405/ai_n9413106
This Christian nudist colony won't allow dancing or alcohol... but clothing are optional????? And how in the world does he know that Jesus was naked when he washed the disciples feet...etc...??????
I changed the setting so that you could post anonymously, I also changed the time zone from Orcas Island time to Lansing time so that the times for posting we actually correct :) On the part of a naked Jesus, Jesus took off his clothes and wore nothing but a towel in order to do the feet washing. The event did not seem to be coed and I think that his actions had to do with lowering himself to the level of a slave before his disciples rather than to return us all to the state of Adam and Eve.
I read the article about the nudist colony and it is funny to me how mixed up people can be that they would make clothing optional and not allow dancing. Nakedness can lead to as much sin as dancing could. It is as though people just ignore the Biblical precedent of dancing especially since King David was such a prolific dancer. There is much less Biblical precedent for post-fall nakedness presented in a positive context...remember Noah and his drunkeness?
People are just strange.
"I have to believe that it is sin that makes nakedness wrong."
Yes indeed. Before the fall there was no such thing as lust. Adam and Eve were able to look at each other and love each other with complete purity. After the fall their nature was weakened so that their love became more selfish. They loved each other not for himself or herself, but for the pleasure that the other could give them. There wasn't a need to cover before lust. Now we have to protect each other against our own weaknesses by covering up.
Right on Catholic friend. But while we must still protect each other from our lusts via our vestiments, Christ makes it necessary that we take off our spiritual clothing and expose ourselve to each other in order to promote unity within the Church and with God.
In fact, to continue, though I think that this may be leading into a semmantic discussion, but I would argue that sin makes nakedness difficult just as it makes all forms and acts of purity difficult. Christ has conquered sin and death, sin cannot make wrong what Christ has made right, but sin can complicate things. Lust is what is wrong, and it makes physical nakedness an unecessary risk in a group context because of our sinful human nature. Additionally, however, I do not think that lust was the issue in the garden of Eden because Adam and Eve were still husband and wife making lust not lust but rather a Godly desire (for I doubt that sex organs were an addition after the fall especially considering God's commandment to procreate and fill the earth--genesis 1:28) so it goes to say that nakedness in the garden was "wrong" for a separate reason and I think that the theme in that particular passage of hiding and blaming would make my "shame of sin" assertion more convincing than a lust assertion. Lust is a definite barrier to physical nakedness (but so are michigan weather and poison ivy for that matter) and I think that physical nakedness is unnecessary and frivolous and in Eden was a sign of how pure and perfect creation was intended to be, but in a fallen world has no place, maybe it will be that way in heaven. But the thing that the nakedness symobolized--the vulnerability that is necessary to unity between people and God--is necessary for the Church to accomplish the work of God.
Makes sense, for the most part.
I do believe that lust can exist between two married people.
Also, the only place I bare my soul is in the confessional so I don't see a need to lay it bare to the whole church.
Ok, now I'll be quiet because you probably weren't intending to have a Catholic on here. Considering I submit my opinions to Rome and all . . .
Cheers!
We value all people's opinions here.
I also believe lust can exist between married people - it's not just about wanting to have sex.
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